My name is Abby, and I’ve loved the kitchen for as long as I can remember.

So what do you need to know about me if you’re reading this Substack? Here are the highlights. 

1. I’m a Midwestener, through and through. I love a crockpot, freezer meal, ranch dressing, the well-utilized convenience food, and a good deal. I grew up with family who had massive gardens and taught me to eat seasonally, even though I didn’t know that’s what I was learning. I’m also big on welcoming people (friends, family, neighbors, strangers) into my home to share a cup of coffee or dinner.

2. I love to travel. Thanks to my parents and a husband who has caught the travel bug, I’ve stepped foot in almost two dozen countries and traipsed across my own. This piece of my life has shaped my views on more things than I can count, and that includes my perspective on kitchens, cooking and hospitality. This also means alongside my love of Ranch dressing and casseroles, I’m always looking for ways to remember favorite memories through my table and make new ones with family and friends through tasting the world around the table. Gimme daal, gimme scones with clotted cream, gimme jeweled rice and kebab, gimme tea. ALL the tea.

3. I’m a parent. 4-6p is the hardest part of my day, so making dinner is the last thing I want to do then. My kids have strong preferences. My free time is limited and I don’t usually want to spend it in the kitchen.

4. The act of hospitality has changed my life. I’m not talking about the idealized dinner party here. I mean being willing to have a friend in my messy house for a cup of coffee while my kids nap or prepping a crockpot dump meal for a Tuesday night to eat with friends while kids watch TV. Stuff like that? It’s been my manna in these wearying years of raising little kids.

5. If my Christian tradition had patron saints, I’d make Martha of Bethany mine. How do we take up the burden and joy of making dinner for our neighbor while keeping company with Jesus? And how might the act of cooking and hospitality invite me into the presence of Jesus? Why does making dinner and sitting around “the table” even matter in the face of the great suffering in this world? Those are questions I’ve been asking all of my adulthood, and the past few years Martha’s story has come alongside mine and helped me live these questions.

And a bonus… And although I like to cook, I really enjoy eating. So know that I’m always on the lookout for meals that are low-effort/high-reward.

If any of that sounds interesting, come along. I’d love to have you.